


Altered Fates

by Rampant_Id



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2009-10-20
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-09-13 10:25:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9119581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rampant_Id/pseuds/Rampant_Id
Summary: After the final battle all Exorcists are believed to be either dead or fallen. Having received secret plans on the Arc's location, Linalee is determined to send the information to one of the few remaining Exorcist Generals. However, her mission is threatened when her ship gets boarded by Akuma - led by the dreaded 12th Noah. Meanwhile, Allen is on a desert planet with no memories..





	1. Familiar Face

**Author's Note:**

>   
>  **Things to know before you begin:**   
> 
> 
> What would happen if D-gray-man were crossed with Star Wars (the old episodes)? Surprisingly, it all fits together remarkably well. I don`t even think I need to give you a hint as to who will be playing Luke`s role... It`s kind of obvious... (And I`m not just talking about the last name.. :P)
> 
> To clarify some terms and links between Star Wars and D-gray-man in this story:
> 
> **Noah** = are the equivalent of the Sith
> 
> **Exorcists** = are the equivalent of Jedi
> 
> **Innocence** = is the force (kind of)
> 
> **The Dark Order** = consists of the Noah
> 
> **The Exorcist Order** = the name says it all (Linalee often forgoes the first part, the "E" word is kind of taboo these days.)

She ran fast, her boots clicking loudly on the steel floor of the now deserted corridors.

"Darling Linalee, why must we run away from the escape pods when everyone else is heading toward them? We need to get off this ship before the 12th Noah gets here!" called the metal droid chasing after her.

"First, I need to send a message to a member of the Order. After that I can worry about escaping," the tall girl called over her shoulder, long black ponytails streaming out behind her.

"Oh, yes of course. Whatever you say, Linalee my love! I will be right behind you every step of the way!" The robot called after her as he desperately tried to keep up.

"You there, the Technometa Campatinator unit!" Linalee shouted to a small TM droid that could be seen hovering about 10 meters ahead of them. Upon hearing her call out his full name the TM droid zipped towards them. The little winged golden ball with a feather-like tail sensor stopped just inches from Linalee's nose.

Giving out a few beeps and mechanical clicks it paused and waited for a translation.

"My beautiful Linalee, the little golf ball introduces itself as TM-Cam-P and awaits your further instructions." The humanoid droid informed Linalee, proud to be of use to her.

"Thank you Komu-E."

Ignoring the golden ball's rather rude sounding bleeps to the humanoid droid, the girl quickly set to work. By pressing a sequence of buttons on the golden sphere's outer casing, she opened an access panel on it's side and inserted a small reference chip into it's tracking system. Finally she activated the holographic recorder.

Just as she was finishing her message a shot rang out and fragments of the wall rained down on her.

"What the-" Linalee turned around just in time to see a level 2 Akuma taking aim at her head.

"Run!" She shouted and ran straight toward the Akuma, kicking out with her right leg.

Just before her leg made contact with the thick metal armor, Linalee tucked her knee to her chest, missing the target entirely. That was too close. _I can`t reveal what I am, especially not here._

As she landed, Linalee whipped out the blaster that hung at her right hip and shot point blank at the Akuma's head. It collapsed in a metallic heap and didn't move.

Looking around as she slowly retreated in the direction that the droids had gone, Linalee spotted Komu-E waiting for her down the hall.

"Komu-E, I thought I told you to run." she called out, looking at him pointedly. Just then another level 2 Akuma emerged from around the corner. Following close behind was a level 3. _Oh... God._ Linalee whipped the gun around just as Komu-E leapt in front of her.

"I must save my precious Linalee! I can't live without her!" This heroic act would have been much more impressive if the leap hadn`t resulted in Komu-E tripping and taking her down with him. A blast sounded above their heads as the Akuma missed.

Linalee desperately shoved the droid off her and scrambled to her feet. The next second she threw herself back down again, barely avoiding two more shots fired at her.

Seeing Komu-E trying to get up to follow her Linalee stopped him. "No. You take TM and you two get out of here, now!" Then standing back up she rushed the two Akuma. Linalee knew that TM had the spaceship's floor plans in its memory; it would know where the closest escape pods were.

Meanwhile, she would focus on holding the Akuma here. Four minutes later Linalee finally managed to incapacitate one, however the Level 3 Akuma was much harder to hit. It's movements were a blur as it sped towards her, avoiding each blast as if it were in slow motion. Linalee ducked out of the way just as some kind of grenade shot past her. Her eyes went wide.

Pushing herself away from the wall she dived towards a door console that was mounted at the far end of the corridor. The Akuma followed close behind and the next second it crashed straight into her. Linalee threw her weight towards the console and at the last second she kicked off, using the Akuma as a springboard. With the additional momentum the Akuma didn't have enough time to stop. It rammed into the console where powerful bursts of energy erupted from it's interface and fried the Akuma's circuitry.

It would be a while before it could recover from that much damage. Linalee turned away and ran for the far corridor, away from the direction where all the Akuma appeared to be coming from. That's when she saw Komu-E's metal head sticking out from behind a corner. He perked up when he spotted her, even started waving. Little TM-Cam-P looked exhausted as he lay on Komu-E's metalic head in defeat. This was probably the farthest that he had managed to get Komu-E to go without her. That humanoid robot was so stubborn that it was a wonder he still remained in one piece.

"TM-Cam-P, are the escape pods nearby?" she asked the little golden ball. With a rather limp tail-like sensor TM pointed behind him and then to the right.

"Alright, then lets go."

It took them 5 minutes to get to the pods and Linalee was feeling restless. Someone would be here any minute, and by that time the droids had to be gone.

Pressing a button, she opened the hatch revealing a rather spacious interior. TM-Cam-P slowly made his way inside and promptly collapsed on a chair. His little tail-sensor drooped off the edge in a sort of defeated manner.

"Komu-E, get in."

"But Linalee, I -"

"Listen Komu-E, TM-Cam-P has very important plans and an immensely vital message hidden within his codes. If you don't get him off this ship in the next 2 minutes then I will be dead along with the rest of the people here, followed by every human that opposes the Dark Order. So for once, please be quiet and do as I tell you." She looked into the droid's mechanical eyes with a burning determination. Komu-E blinked twice. It appeared as if nothing would change her mind.

"Your presence here is a danger to me Komu-E. If you truly care for me then you will take TM with you and escape."

"You could come with-"

"No. They are destroying all escape pods with life forms on them. I wouldn't get off this ship alive. Don't worry I'll be fine. I'll think of a way to - "

She was out of time. Hearing a sound behind her, Linalee shoved the still protesting Komu-E into the escape pod and hit the eject button. It shot away immediately. Not even 2 seconds had passed when her sigh of relief suddenly turned to a feeling of dread. Her feet were no longer touching the ground. As the impact of what this meant registered in her mind she was swung around with a tremendous force and left hanging in mid-air. Facing her was an approaching figure. It was a man cloaked in darkness, his black clothes almost appeared to be made from shadows rather than cloth. No matter how hard she tried, Linalee couldn't glimpse his face, which was concealed in the shadows of a strangly disturbing black hood. Disturbing because it appeared to pulse and shift with an unnatural dark energy.

This was most definitely the 12th Noah. His presence filled the room to the point where it felt stiflingly crowded. Raising a gloved hand the demon-like figure motioned her body forward, which obediently floated toward him and the cluster of Akuma that flanked him.

Linalee tried to steady her breathing. If she ended up hyperventilating she might pass out and be killed by them without a second thought. No, she had to make the 12th Noah believe that she was valuable enough to be kept alive. Without handing over any crucial information, that is.

"How curious. Now why would the niece of a prominent government official be on board a strictly routine flight between Alderan and Cantelian? " The calm voice held reproof as the hooded man turned to look behind him. Two Akuma came forward dragging a terrified officer between them. His face was bloodied, she noted, most likely an Akuma's handiwork.

"I don't know!" he cried desperately "I swear, I didn't know who she was! She looked just like a civilian."

"Indeed? So she was not accompanied by an escort? No bodyguards, servants, or personal droids of any kind?" His tone sounded mildly surprised while at the same time mocking.

"She had one humanoid droid with her, but that was all. There was no way of knowing that she was anyone special!"

Linalee tried to send him a pointed look, one that warned him to shut up. The officer was giving too much information away!

The 12th Noah turned to look at Linalee just in time to catch her worried expression. Not realizing that she had bitten her lip, Linalee desperately tried to think of a way to steer the conversation away from Komu-E.

As if reading her mind the 12th Noah slowly and deliberately made his way towards her. His movements were measured yet precise. She was being stalked.

"Tell me, where is your droid... Linalee?" The dark voice was incredibly compelling. She fought its pull with all her strength, refusing to get sucked into that mind numbing void as it reached for her thoughts with caressing fingers. She blinked and found herself staring down at the ground below her as she continued to float in the air. She took a steadying breath. That had been both incredibly disturbing and terrifying. She never wanted to experience anything like that again.

Suddenly Linalee realized something that made her gasp out loud. Her eyes flew to the hood that hid his face as she stared at him in shock. He had just used her name. He had no way of knowing her true given name, she never used it in personal logs, it didn't even exist on any governmental records!

And yet, his voice...there was something very familiar in the way that he said her name.

"How...how do you know my name? Who are you?" she demanded with only a small quiver betraying the intensity of her emotions.

"I am the 12th Noah." Reaching back he pulled down the black hood, revealing his face.

The ship's lights put his face in sharp relief. Elegant features, a proud nose, unsmiling lips, and one raised eyebrow. An expression that dared her to respond.

She stared down at the face of the last person she ever expected to see working for the Earl.

"Kanda?" she whispered brokenly, disbelief plain on her face.

 

* * *

And that's it for chapter one. Let me know what you think, although keep in mind that this is just the introduction. I have a rough framework with which I'm working, so the plot builds on itself.

**What to expect and not expect from this story:**

\- do not expect the family relations to directly follow one of the two plot-lines. The family connections are sometimes quite different and often warped. It works better this way, trust me.

\- There will be no light sabers. Having fully potent innocence is enough firepower as it is. Both Noah and Exorcists will use innocence in battle although the Noah`s has been corrupted by the 'dark side'.

Pairings ? I fear that the pairings are out of my hands. It seems that the story has taken the reigns so to speak.

Character Death - Is quite probable, but not definite. However, I already have 4 characters in mind who might not make it to the end. We`ll see.

Clarification - in case you haven't noticed, the Akuma in this fanfiction will be more humanoid than in the manga. Think of droids that can regenerate body parts, have immense firepower and cannot defy a Noah's direct orders (even if they want to).</i>


	2. Scarlet Gaze

A sweaty hand shot out and grabbed the bartender's sleeve, effectively stopping him from refilling another glass. The bartender glanced up irritably and met a pair of mean eyes that belonged to an unpleasant looking fellow who sat before him.

"Hey, who is that scruffy looking kid with the prematurely white hair?" asked Jared with a nasty expression on his face.

Glaring briefly at him the bartender glanced over at the table that the man had indicated.

A white haired boy sat at an empty table trying to look inconspicuous. His hands kept pulling up the black gloves that he always wore, as if to re-assure himself that they were on as high as they could go. For those that knew him, it was a sure sign that he was worried about something. His white hair obscured his eyes as he kept his head lowered. The posture indicated a lack of self-esteem and self-confidence. Not once did the boy meet anyone's eyes.

Nudging each other, the three newcomers that had arrived with Jared shot glances in the boy's direction. This was easy pickings. The boy could be no more than 15, and his body language spoke volumes of how he would react under pressure.

"I'm assuming you mean Allen. He's a regular; he and his master come here once a week."

Jared smirked. "How can he be a regular when he's obviously not old enough to drink?"

"I didn't say he drinks, quite the opposite in fact. He appears to have an unnaturally strong aversion to alcohol. It's his master who does the drinking, and the amount of liquor that man can hold is not natural, let me tell you."

"And where is this master of his? Why would he leave a kid in a bar like this, where anything could happen?"

"Nobody would bother Allen, he's a good kid and well liked. Plus it's not as if he can't look after himself."

Jared spared the kid another glance and grinned over at his friends. Sure the kid didn't look like the wealthy sort. Hell, none of the riff-raff gathered here could possibly own anything more expensive than a beat up old sand-rider. Yet even that when sold in the right place could fetch a decent price. This kid was the perfect target...

* * *

A shadow fell over the table. Ten seconds passed and still no one moved.

"Hey kid, get up. We wanna talk to you," demanded one of the four men standing over him.

The boy gave no indication of having heard them. Jared growled. Grabbing the boy's shirt he partly raised him out of the chair and shook him to get his attention. "Are you deaf? Move your ass! We have a matter to settle with you."

The boy's lips tightened and he finally raised his head. The gaze that met their eyes was not one belonging to a frightened or intimidated young teenager. Cold anger lay beneath the steady gaze he fixed them with. Deep blue eyes that drew you into their fathomless depths stared out from between the bright red scar that traveled from his left eyebrow all the way down to his cheek.

The four men found themselves gasping for breath. Jared let go of the young man's shirt, unconsciously wiping his sweaty hand on his worn-out pants. There was a feeling of danger emanating from the boy.

"Did he send you here to find me? Did he tell you that I would deal with it? Well I'm not his keeper! I will not barter with my body, sell my few measly belongings, nor work off his debts through some form of hard labour. I am his apprentice, NOT his slave. So if you want, you can go back and hound Cross for all I care. You will not get a single coin from me."

This impassioned speech concluded with Allen glaring up at the group of strange men whose mouths practically hung open in shock. Whatever they had been expecting, this had not been it.

Jared couldn't come up with a coherent response to that. His brain was still busy processing the last part of the young man's triad. Oddly enough he no longer felt inclined to rough the boy up. His buddies seemed to be of a similar mind, as they slowly backed away.

Pushing away from the table the young man stood up, grabbing a heavy looking burlap bag from where it leaned against the wall. "Now if you don't mind, I have things to do." As he looked up at Jared challengingly the boy's scar caught the light. The raised flesh looked rough, and the bright red color made it stand out in an unnatural and disturbing way.

Jared broke eye-contact first and then tried to quickly regain his composure before anybody could notice how shaken he was. He felt the boy walk calmly past him, and no one tried to stop him. The sound of a door opening and closing could be heard, followed by a few seconds of silence. Then the moment passed and with it so did the tension.

* * *

The air was hot and dry. Allen's face itched from the sand that was stuck to it. Sandy gusts swirled around his brown cloak and danced through his snow-white hair. He didn't have much time. From the way that the wind was picking up it was apparent that the sand storm would be hitting soon. Allen kept his lips firmly shut and breathed through the white scarf that protected his face and neck. It was a good thing he was wearing those sand-shielding goggles, otherwise he would have gone blind by now.

Allen slung the heavy sack over his shoulder and briskly made his way toward the gambling house. He could see it in the distance, an innocent looking two story building, with a window and a large sign hanging above the door. Why was he here in this godforsaken town and risking the dangers of a sandstorm, one may wonder. The answer was actually quite simple. He and his master had run out of food. Or more accurately, Allen had run out of food and his master out of booze. Except for drinking and sleeping there wasn't much else his master did. Unless chasing him around their shack with a gigantic mallet counted for exercise. So Allen had been sent to buy enough food to last them another week, while his master skulked off to gamble away the last of the money that Allen had not managed to locate in time.

He heard the heavy western gates clanging shut as the last visitor was allowed in before the lockdown took place. Farther off in the distance he could hear the eastern gates following suit. This would ensure that the worst of the damage would be kept to a minimum, meaning that the buildings would still be standing once the sandstorm passed over. Allen picked up his pace hoping that he would make it to his destination before the winds became too strong.

All too soon a forlorn moaning could be heard as slowly everything grew dark. Allen only managed to take a few steps before gusts of wind began throwing sand up around Allen's ankles. Then around his knees. The swirling sand was rising higher and higher, assisted by the wind which grew more powerful with each second. In less than a minute the whirling mass blocked out most of the sunlight, and on a planet with two suns this was quite a feat.

Allen squinted from behind the goggles, ignoring the stinging pain as sand was whipped into his face countless times. No longer able to see anything besides the swirling mass surrounding him, Allen pushed on ahead toward the relative safety of the building. His cloak flapped around his legs while the ends of his scarf danced beside his face. Walking against the wind took so much effort that Allen had to focus all his attention on simply moving forward without tripping. Finally, after what felt like half an hour, his booted foot struck something; the wall of a building.

Feeling around with his hands Allen made his way along the wall until he eventually located the door. After fumbling for a few seconds, his hands grasped the door knob, pushed the door open, and practically fell in.

Once inside, Allen pushed at the door with all his strength, his boots scraping over the wooden floor as the wind shoved insistently at the door. With a final burst of strength he finally managed to shove it shut and then promptly slid to the floor, his energy spent. Breathing heavily from the exertion, he didn't even notice when the bag containing his precious food slipped out of his unresponsive fingers.

He pulled off his sandy goggles and dropped them onto the floor by his side. Allen ran his fingers through his hair, not too surprised when sand rained down from his head. His scalp was matted with sand and sweat; a shower could not come early enough to suit him. Damn Cross.

Allen shook out the scarf that had protected him from the worst of the storm. He could feel bits of sand still clinging to his cheeks and around his eyes. He fought the urge to rub it because that would simply end up making it worse. Allen hung the scarf back around his neck and looked around. The gambling house looked worse than when he had last stepped foot in it. It appeared to have fallen into heavy disrepair. A broken chair lay beside the table, it's backing crushed as if from a heavy impact. There were various bits of wood scattered all over the floor. The rectangular table nearest to Allen had only three corners… in fact, chunks were missing from almost every single piece of furniture that could be seen scattered about the room. And was that a scorch mark?

What was going on he-

A deep, loud bang rang out and a little golden ball shot straight out of the kitchen doorway.

Thanks to all those times that Allen had to avoid Cross's ceaseless and unexpected beatings, he was able to throw himself out of the way in time, just as a golden ball rammed straight into the wall behind him, emitting what sounded like a pained whimper.

"What was that for?" Allen grumbled rubbing his forehead as he got up and walked over to inspect the projectile that was partially sticking out of the far wall. It looked like Cross was in one of his destructive snits again. It was one thing to throw objects at people in your own home, yet quite another to do it in a public establishment!

Leaning down towards the golden thing embedded in the wall, Allen jerked back in surprise as it began to move. What is this thing, he wondered, watching it struggling in an attempt to free itself. For some reason Allen felt sorry for it. Too small and powerless to break free, yet still struggling against its fate. Without really thinking about what he was doing, Allen reached out towards it and broke apart the plaster that held the golden object prisoner. Immediately it zipped up toward the ceiling and then was out of sight.

Allen sighed and turned back toward the kitchen door once again.

"Cross where are you? Isn't it more sporting if I can see you when you try to beat the living daylights out of me?" Allen called out as he strode through the gaming room, making sure to avoid the various fragments of furniture that littered the floor. He walked through the kitchen door and slammed it into the opposite wall so strongly that it rebounded and almost smacked him back, barely missing him.

"Cross, what are- "

The sight that met his eyes made him pause and stare in bewilderment.

There, in the centre of the kitchen floor, stood Larry the card dealer. Never in the three years that Allen had known him had Larry ever displayed any expression other than boredom. Yet there he stood over a pile of metallic scraps at his feet, with a look of triumph that threatened to split his face apart. At the sound of the door banging open Larry glanced up and glared at the intruder.

"Larry, have you seen-"

Allen paused for a second and stared at the kitchen in confusion. Never mind the gambling room, the kitchen looked like a war-zone. Scorch marks covered the walls, pots and pans were all over the floor, and there were even pieces of plaster missing from the ceiling. Cross, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"Larry, what's going on? Did Cross do this?" Not that Allen could imagine Cross going so far as to demolish a public establishment, however Allen couldn't think of any other explanation for what he was seeing. Allen scanned the room once more, hoping that he would find some sign of his master at least having been there. No such luck.

Making his way toward the unblinking card dealer, Allen was suddenly filled with uneasiness. A restless, itchy feeling crawled up Allen's left arm, moving along the muscles and tendons there. It was at times like these that Allen was reminded of why he hated his deformed arm. Quite often it felt less like a body part, and more like an alien creature with a mind of its own.

Suddenly Allen's gaze was drawn to the pile of metal that lay at Larry's feet. Now that he was close enough to see details, something about the metallic heap disturbed him...

"Larry wh-"

"Were you their contact?" Larry interrupted, staring at him intently.

"What?" The question didn't make any sense. "Who's contact? What are you talking about?"

"Let me rephrase that... Is this yours?" Larry kicked the pile of debris toward Allen. A metallic arm detached itself from the scrapheap and skidded to a stop at Allen's feet. His startled gaze flew to the rest of the pile, now recognizing the parts for what they were. Further off he could see a dismembered leg that was only held together by a few thin wires, it lay not too far from the kitchen cabinets off to Larry's right. A forlorn metallic head lay between the two men, its eyes staring up sightlessly at the ceiling.

"What happened?" Allen`s shocked stare was riveted to the empty eyes that had clearly once belonged to a high-class droid. Ignoring the disturbing sensations that were now pulsing incessantly throughout his entire arm, Allen slowly made his way over to the head and knelt down.

"How is it possible for such an advanced model to have been destroyed so completely?" His fascination with droids and mechanisms of all types eclipsed all other thoughts. Allen picked up the head, inspecting all the wires as well as the outer metallic structure.

"The metallic components that make up this droid make it near impossible for it to get scratched, let alone damaged to such an extent…so how did…" His voice took on a preoccupied air, gradually trailing off as he mulled over and discarded thousands of possibilities, momentarily forgetting all about the strangely behaving Larry who stood before him.

Suddenly a sharp pain shot through his arm, causing Allen to double over. The arm started jerking erratically from side to side, and then began to extend at an incredible speed. In that same instance a blast sounded from where Larry stood and something flew over Allen's head. A loud bang could be heard from above as parts of the ceiling rained down on Allen. Still on his knees the boy dropped the metallic head in order to protect himself from the falling debris. Then he jerked his head up and his eyes followed the large crack in the ceiling down to the wall behind him. Allen stared open mouthed at the huge hole that spanned at least a foot in diameter. A path of destruction could be seen all the way into the next room.

Allen stared at the hole until his gaze was drawn to his left arm, which was now nearly twice the size of his right one.

"Exorcist!" A hate-filled voice spat out the word, drawing Allen's attention back to the other man.

Larry glared down at Allen, his lips curled up in disgust as he raised his palm toward the boy in a threatening manner.

Not understanding the meaning behind Larry`s words, Allen raised his free hand showing that he meant no harm.

"Larry it's me, Allen. I-" Allen stopped in mid-sentence, staring openly while the air around Larry began fluctuating as if the temperature around his body were hot enough to imitate a mirage in a hot dessert.

Without warning a burst of pain shot through his eyes. Allen's hands flew to his face, pressing tightly to his stinging eyes in a feeble attempt to relieve the mind-numbing pain. Bombarded by torment from so many different sources, Allen was no longer thinking, he was simply reacting.

Just then, unimaginable pain surged through Allen's entire left arm, from his shoulder all the way to his fingertips. Like a current of molten lava suddenly injected into his veins, the wave of scalding heat burned everything in its path, tearing a ragged scream from the white haired boy, and forcing his eyes open.

The sight that met him would have made the boy gasp if he hadn't already been out of breath. Everything was tinged red. The droid's parts laying before him were red, as was the floor that he knelt on. It was as if Allen were looking at the world through a red lens of some kind. However, redness wasn't the only difference he could see. There, in the exact same spot where Larry had stood just moments before was a monstrous half-machine half-human-like creature. It held two huge guns, both of which were trained on Allen. Smiling nastily the creature activated both weapons with a high-pitched whir, and shot them at the human.

Before Allen could even grasp what was happening, the huge mutated arm shot out from his side and crashed into the metallic creature, absorbing the shots as if they were insubstantial. Without any warning the creature blew up. The strength of the impact threw Allen a few feet backwards, slamming him into a nearby wall. The boy landed face-down as he dropped to the ground, his forehead making an unpleasant sound as it met the floor. Still conscious, the boy turned his head to the side, feeling the cool floor meet his right cheek. His red vision had disappeared the instant that the creature had been destroyed, however the huge monstrosity that was attached to his shoulder was still there. It's red scaly appearance and the black talons on the ends of what appeared to be huge lizard-like fingers could never be termed as even semi-human. Am I a demon of some kind?

Unable to fight the enveloping darkness he sank into unconsciousness.

* * *

Something was nudging his hand, something cold and metallic. Allen groaned and lifted his head, his eyes opening marginally as he squinted at the small object that kept bumping into his cursed arm. Allen was thankful to see that his arm was in its dormant state once more.

"Move," A commanding voice ordered, and the little golden ball darted back to hover a safer distance away.

"Cross?" Allen groaned as he tried to push himself up off the ground. Not having the energy to stand up at the moment, Allen settled for simply kneeling where he was. He looked up to see an impressive red-haired man towering above him. The annoyance on his master's face spoke volumes.

"Pathetic. I can`t even leave you for a few minutes without you almost blowing yourself up."

"It was eleven hours," Allen interjected dryly.

"And you think that excuses your reckless behaviour?"

"I had no choice!" Allen exclaimed, his voice rising, "without any warning I was attacked! The thing, it looked like Larry, my arm went crazy and almost tore me apart! So painful, I couldn't-"

A sharp slap could be heard and a red mark spread over Allen's cheek. Cross calmly put his glove back on.

"Now, if you`re finished having your girly fit, get your things and follow me."

Rubbing his aching cheek, Allen angrily got to his feet and made his way toward the adjacent game room to pick up the bag he had dropped earlier.

Cross was such a jerk. It didn't surprise Allen that his master didn't give a damn about him, but wasn't this situation a bit out of the ordinary? Wouldn't a normal person be concerned, not to mention freaked out, if their arm had suddenly transformed into some hellish appendage and attacked the nearest being in the vicinity?

Dropping the bag for a second, Allen sank into a crouch, leaning his head back against the wall as he wrapped his arms around himself to still the sudden shaking. He tried not to touch his left arm too much, almost as if he feared triggering it unintentionally. What exactly had happened? It had all been over so quickly that his memory of the event was already getting fuzzy.

He had always known that his slightly deformed arm with the red skin-tone and black fingernails was strange and unnatural; that was the reason he wore gloves at all times. Speaking of which, where was his other glove? Oh right, it must have been shredded during the transformation. Allen didn't have another pair of gloves on him, so how was he going to hide the arm? If only the gloves had been interchangeable he would have been able to substitute the right glove for the missing one, Allen thought regretfully.

He was brought out of his musings by the beeps and blips that could be heard coming from the kitchen. Allen's eyebrows shot up when he heard Cross replying to the droid's mechanical beeps as if he understood what was being said. Since when could Cross understand droid speech?

"Hey brat, gather up the humanoid droid before you go. If you miss so much as a fragment I'll make sure you won't be able to move for a month."

Allen swore under his breath as he stood up and made his way back to the kitchen where the fight had taken place, leaving his bag where it was. He would come back to get it later. Cross passed him on his way out, not even sparing him a glance. The little golden ball trailed behind Cross like a devoted puppy.

Shooting them a glare, Allen headed for the first box he saw, picked it up and dumped out its contents. A variety of utensils and cooking tools spilled out onto the floor before him. Promising to clean up the mess he'd made once he finished following Cross' non-debatable instructions, Allen proceeded to fill the box with metal parts, torn wires, and partial limbs that were strewn about the floor. The larger pieces were easy to locate, it was the smaller fragments that took him over an hour to gather. He had learned from past experience to take Cross' threats seriously, the man rarely bluffed.

"What does he need a demolished droid for anyway? It wouldn't even be possible for a professional to put this thing back together," Allen wondered aloud, even as he felt a twinge of pity for the droid whose empty eyes appeared to be staring up at him forlornly.

Then it all clicked into place. Parts... of course. Cross wasn't anything if not practical. He's going to try to sell the parts to the highest bidder. Even if they weren't worth much now, Cross could sucker anyone out of a fortune. After all, that's how the two of them still had enough money for food these days.

Carefully placing the droid's head on top of the pile in the box, Allen stood up. Now to locate Cross. Again. Allen could only pray that this time the sandstorm had kept his master from wandering off.


	3. Fight of Wills

The dark-haired girl hung suspended in mid-air, staring down at the 12th Noah in shock. The familiar, yet now more ominous, appearance of her former friend and hero smirked back at her.

"Why so shocked? Is it really so hard to believe that I'd join the Millennium Earl?" Kanda raised an eyebrow as sarcasm seeped into his voice.

All Linalee could do was stare back at this shadow of her childhood friend; her mind trying to wrap around the concept of them now being enemies. With detachment she noticed how well that hated black robe suited him. Gone was the exorcist's official uniform she had last seen him in, along with his striking blue eyes and pale white skin. A single word came to mind when she looked at him now: Noah. That dark gray skin of death, the cursed black crown of thorns showing through his bangs, and those unmistakable demonic eyes staring unblinkingly back up at her - they belonged to the fallen...

Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined that Kanda would have turned traitor. Out of everyone she had ever known, Kanda had always seemed like the epitome of the perfect exorcist. How could she believe that he would have switched sides without a fight? "Of course! You were one of the best students at the Academy. Your unwavering determination, self-control, and your unquestionable sense of honor were talked about for years after you left!"

"That wasn't self-control, it was simply me not giving a damn about anything or anyone."

"That's not true!" Linalee swallowed the sudden swell of emotions that unexpectedly surged through her. A feeling of desperation threatened to overwhelm her as she searched those alien eyes for some kind of emotion. "You saved my life the first week that I was transferred to the Academy!"

"It would have been inconvenient to have you die on my watch, " he stated flatly.

"So by pulling me out from under all that rubble, and later shielding me from the ceiling that caved in on us, you were simply keeping me alive for the sake of convenience?" Angry and hurt at having the value of her life equated to a menial task, Linalee jabbed a finger in his direction. "Don't lie to yourself, Kanda, you saved me because you cared."

Here stood the very person who had once held her fragile sanity together, who had protected her from the nightmare that had been her life all those years ago. How could their past be simply discounted as nothing? She felt something wet sliding down her cheek. A tear? Linalee shook her head - impossible, she'd run out of tears years ago. "You fought for me, listened to all my problems - you even let me meditate with you..." She heard her voice waver and hated herself for it. "Don't tell me it didn't mean anything to you. We were friends..."

The 12th Noah's eyes narrowed as he glared up at her. "You simply followed me around without respecting my desire for privacy. Nothing could shut you up, I remember that quite clearly. You were pushy, opinionated and always in the centre of trouble. You were never my friend, just an inconvenience."

"Kanda!" Hurt-filled eyes met a cold, hard stare. The glare that he shot her made Linalee's breath catch. The swordsman looked ready to decapitate her with his Katana.

"I never want to hear that name again, Kanda is dead. I go by 12th Noah now."

"Kanda, there you are!" a cheery voice called from the doorway that led from the escape pods back out into the main corridor. Kanda growled out a curse. Turning away from the prisoner, he looked back to where Tyki now stood, a group of akuma fanning out behind him.

"What do you want?" Kanda demanded irritably.

"Nothing from you, thanks. Just wanted to meet the prisoner that had the Akuma all worked up. I haven't seen them in such a frenzy since the last great battle." Here he paused for a split second, savoring the memory."Besides, you know I'm always curious about any friends from your past. Especially when they happen to be ... Exorcists."

Seeing Linalee wince, Tyki grinned that famous Noah grin that no human had ever been able to mimic. "What, you thought you could keep your identity a secret?" Chuckling, Tyki shook his head and walked over to where Kanda stood to leer at her. "With this many Akuma gunning for you, no one in their right mind would expect you to be anything less. Oh, and just for the record, all Noah can sense an Exorcist's presence as well. How else do you think we were able to wipe your kind out? Pure innocence has an energy signature that is irresistible to us..."

So saying the Noah took a few more leisurely steps until he stood directly below her, adding under his breath, "Like right now for example, the desire to corrupt and destroy you is nearly overpowering." Reaching up, he ran his hand up her leg, eyes slitting in pleasure.

Linalee suppressed a shudder of revulsion, knowing it would only encourage him. Even through the thick fabric of her setris pants she could feel his unwelcome ice-cold touch. A strange numbness crept up her leg, slowly spreading upward. Her body seemed to be growing heavier and heavier. Linalee tried to make sense of what was going on, but her sluggish mind refused to cooperate.

"Damn it Tyki, stop draining her! We need her conscious for questioning. How the hell are we to get a comatose prisoner to reveal the location of the Ark?"

"Relax Kanda, I'm barely even touching her. You know that without direct physical contact the damage done will be miniscule. So you have no reason to intervene, unless of course your concern stems from the past relationship you two shared. Tell me, were you two close friends?" Turning away from Linalee, Tyki spared Kanda a glance. "Would it bother you if something happened to her?"

To Tyki's great disappointment Kanda failed to play along. The 12th Noah's expression was stoic; Nothing showed on his face. "She wasn't my friend. I had no friends," Kanda's bored tone did little to encourage conversation.

Shooting Kanda a sly grin, Tyki said, "Oh, we both know you had at least one friend. Or do you need your memory refreshed?"

"Tyki, shut up. Or I swear I'll do it for you," Kanda's expression rapidly underwent a drastic change as his hand went to his sword hilt in warning. The anger that emanated from him was almost a palpable thing.

"Ooh, did I strike a nerve?" Tyki swiftly stepped back as Kanda partially withdrew Mugen. "Now Kanda, leave your sword alone. You don't want the Earl mad at you for disobeying one of his rules. Do you?"

Tyki glanced up at Linalee, watching Kanda shove Mugen back in its sheath from the corner of his eye. "Now why don't you let the girl down? That cannot be healthy."

"As if you care. You just want to get your hands on her." Tyki sent him a sardonic look, "Yes, and you're keeping me from my interrogation. Is there a reason why you keep stalling?"

Without replying, Kanda turned away from Linalee and the girl suddenly found herself in an undignified heap on the ground. She tried to get up, but after being weightless for so long her legs seemed unable to support her body.

Tyki crouched down beside her. Raising a finger to her face he ran it down her cheek, stopping it at the edge of her lips. "So little exorcist... what are you afraid of?"

She jerked her head back, staring at him in surprise. Kanda glowered at Tyki but didn't reach for his Katana.

Unperturbed Tyki grasped her chin with his right hand, ignoring her attempts to pull away as he stared intently into her eyes.

"Lets see... it bothers you that Kanda has turned against you. That he has... abandoned you? You don't like to be left behind, forgotten. Do you?"

"Leave me alone! Go poison someone else's mind, Noah." Linalee spat, angry and afraid, squeezing her eyes shut while simultaneously trying to shake her head free.

Tyki laughed dryly, "No, thank you. I think I'll have some fun with yours first." His grip tightened on Linalee's chin to keep her still. When she refused to open her eyes, he raised his hand and casually slapped her across the face. Linalee's head spun around from the force of the impact. Bursts of light blinded her for a few seconds, and for a moment she feared she'd throw up from the pain. Who would have thought that Noahs were this strong? Linalee braced herself for another blow, praying that she wouldn't embarrass herself by passing out.

"Kanda, back off. She's mine to interrogate as I please. Your orders were not to interfere."

Cautiously opening one eye she saw a hand gripping the Noah's raised arm by the wrist. The owner of the hand didn't say anything, but the strength with which he squeezed, spoke volumes. The air vibrated with tension as the two Noahs glared at each other. Linalee stared up at Kanda. Her throbbing cheekbone temporarily was forgotten as she dared to hope that her childhood hero would once again protect her, regardless of his being a Noah. The thought was short-lived.

Kanda gritted his teeth and released the other Noah saying, "If you knock her out you won't get any answers, idiot."

The Noah called Tyki ignored him, and turned back to Linalee. That disturbingly unnatural smile was back again, spreading across his face at the sight of her disappointed expression.

From what Linalee had seen, it appeared that Kanda's Noah was fully in control. She could expect no help from him.

Tyki's next words brought her back to her current dilemma. "Listen Exorcist, I have no patience. Every time you close your eyes I will `wake you up` hard enough to make you see stars. If you manage to irritate me, I will move on to a more permanent solution - one that involves something sharp. Understood?"

Linalee glared at Tyki, the purplish bruise spreading across her cheek a sharp contrast to her pale face.

"Good. Now then... " Linalee felt his eyes probing her mind once more. She tried dispersing the thoughts that he was pulling to the surface. Apparently she wasn't fast enough.

"Hmm...In the past Kanda protected you. He even stood up to... a general? For you?" Tyki turned to look at Kanda with admiration. "How impressive, Kanda, that you had balls at such a young age. Even then you were a rebel." Tyki ignored the death glare that Kanda threw him.

"You know Linalee, Kanda will no longer protect you. Not just because he doesn't care about you, but because you don't deserve it. Weaklings will always be abandoned."

"I'm not weak!" Linalee jerked her head out of Tyki's grip and lashed out with her leg, attempting to land a blow on his chin. Faster than she could follow, Tyki's hand had clamped on her leg, stopping it halfway before she could do any damage.

Tyki's eyes narrowed in anger. Something flickered in his eyes and the next thing Linalee could hear was the sound of her own voice, screaming. Pain had shot up her entire leg, and it felt like it had snapped clean in half. She was lying on her back, hands clawing at the ground. Desperately trying to draw breath one second, and screaming the next, her body jerking uncontrollably in pain. Sounds of yelling and fighting could be heard in the background, but Linalee didn't care. The excruciating pain was the centre of her world.

Suddenly cool, firm hands gripped her face. A calm voice ordered her to open her eyes. Old habits kicked in and she listened to that voice, the way she always had. The first thing Linalee saw was Kanda's dark face. Expressionless, yellow eyes pulsing, hypnotizing... she could easily drown in his mind...

Suddenly the pain was gone; her leg felt fine. A strong arm propped her up into a sitting position while a face that was both familiar and not stared down at her. Kanda knelt beside her, holding Linalee's face steady in his other hand. The cold, dispassionate stare he directed at her was painfully familiar. How much had he changed in the time they had been apart? This dark Kanda who demanded to be called by his Noah title, who claimed he found her irritating and burdensome... how did he really feel?

Staring into those demonic eyes Linalee caught a flicker of emotion, and then it was gone.

"Kanda?" confusion made her voice waver.

"Don't call me that," he replied gruffly and let her go. Linalee fell back onto the cold metal ground, banging an elbow and adding an additional bruise to her collection. As she pulled herself up into a sitting position Linalee watched the two Noah wearily.

The one named Tyki looked as if someone had taken away his toy. "Why did you interfere when you were specifically ordered not to?"

"Immobilizing her with pain and destroying her mind are the least likely ways to get any truth out of her. I know her, and so I know how to get the information we need. What do you think the Earl would do if you destroyed her mind before we got our answers? You want information? I can get it, and without damaging her psyche half as badly as you would."

The silence stretched out for another 10 minutes as each tried to stare the other down. Finally Tyki shrugged, his face expressionless. "Fine. You get her to tell us everything, and then you get to turn her. But if you don't manage to get all the details out of her in two days, I will resume my form of questioning - and everything that entails. I promise you that if I get my hands on her a second time, the chances of this Exorcist's sanity remaining intact will be very slim, once I have my answers. That's in gratitude to your interference."

With those ominous last words the other Noah turned around and walked out of the chamber, leaving the two of them behind. From the ground where she still sat, Linalee's eyes trailed up the black robe until she got to Kanda's dark-skinned face. His yellow eyes stared down at her with determination burning within their depths. How was she going to keep her secrets with not one, but two telepathically adept Noah interrogating her?

* * *

The dim overhead lights that shone off the metallic surface cast a pale gray glow on Linalee's face making her appear not all that different from the gray-skinned Kanda. Cold yellow eyes watched her as Linalee concentrated on keeping her mind empty. She was determined to make this interrogation as uninformative as possible.

"Where were you heading before your capture?" Kanda asked, standing over her in an intimidating manner.

"Alderan," Linalee replied after a short pause.

"Why?"

"To discuss future diplomatic meetings with planetary officials," Linalee said, staring past Kanda's shoulder as she spoke.

Her response was met with silence. Glancing over at his face, the look she was met with spoke volumes.

"Why don't you believe me? I happen to be a diplomat."

"Yes, a diplomat who used to be an Exorcist, who fought in the war against the Noah," Kanda replied dryly. "Where were you coming from?"

"I had just finished attending a series of talks on Draten."

"Really? How strange that there are no records of you having been there." The sarcasm was hard to miss. Linalee stayed silent.

Narrowing his eyes Kanda placed his hands on the metal armrests on either side of Linalee and leaned forward until they were eye to eye. "I want to know the name of the Leader of the Rebel Alliance," seeing her about to speak Kanda interrupted, "I know you two have met before. In fact, the Dark Order itself has proof of your connection to the rebels. Now we just need you to identify them."

Shaking her head at the chaotic thoughts that Kanda's words were stirring up she shoved them as far into the depths of her psyche as she could.

"I can sense your panic Linalee. You wouldn't be frantically discarding your thoughts if you had nothing to hide," Kanda said as he held her gaze. For some reason it was much harder for Linalee to break away from the hold Kanda had on her than from Tyki's.

"Do you care for the Rebel Leader so much that you would be willing to die for him?"

"No, I care for the freedom of all civilizations, to the extent that I am willing to die to keep them from the Millennium Earl's oppression," Linalee shot back, anger coloring her words as she glared straight into his eyes. This was not just some selfish attempt to protect a single person, the Rebel Alliance was fighting for the freedom of everyone!

"Really? Then why is it that when I mentioned the Leader of the Rebel Alliance I felt affection and protectiveness rolling off of you in waves?" Kanda asked, raising an eyebrow.

Linalee's eyes widened in alarm while Kanda continued.

"We suspect that the Rebels have information on the location of the Ark-, ah you've heard of it? Knowledge of the Ark's existence and it's purpose were only known by a select few. So the question now is, who leaked the information?"

* * *

Two hours later Linalee sat slumped in the cold chair, her eyes obscured by bangs that hung limply from her bowed head. She was exhausted from trying to keep her thoughts suppressed during a series of thought provoking questions that Kanda had bombarded her with.

Kanda folded his arms over his chest, and looked past her as he spoke.

"So to summarize, you were to meet with your contact somewhere in this quadrant. What's more, the reason for the meeting appears to be linked to the Ark but you have no knowledge of any details. You were given some kind of coordinates which you managed to get off this ship before it was boarded. Your Droid was accounted for when we boarded the ship with our Akuma, but now it's missing. And finally, you know the Leader of the Rebel Alliance personally and hold great affection for them.

Now all you need to tell me is the identity of the Rebel Alliance Leader, the last location where you met with the Rebels, as well as the name and location of the contact you were to deliver the ark coordinates to. Tell me this and I'll be able to keep you from Tyki's very thorough and extremely painful interrogation."

Linalee wouldn't look at him. Perhaps somewhere deep down inside she still hoped that he would be unable to do as he threatened. He claimed to hate all exorcists, but surely the friendship that he denied had existed between them, must have left some kind of mark on him. He wouldn't allow a stranger to torture her...would he?

"Kanda?" Linalee looked up at him in shock as she felt his hand close upon her wrist. "What are you doing?" But before the last words even left her mouth she realized to her horror what his intention was. Bringing her hand to the left arm-rest, Kanda snapped the thick shackle around her wrist, immobilizing it. Turning to the other armrest he grabbed her now flailing right hand. "No Kanda, don't!" Frantic with fear, Linalee tried kicking out with her legs to keep him away, but he avoided her easily.

Grabbing hold of her left leg Kanda looked up at her, a warning in his eyes. "Then tell me what I want to know."

"Kanda, you wouldn't! Don't do this!" Her pleading voice had no effect as he caught her leg in mid-air and secured it to the thick shackle located near the base of the chair. A split second later her last leg was shackled as well. Completely immobilized and unable to move, a voice that no longer resembled her own sobbed in terror and fear.

Kanda stood up and made his way towards the lone door.

"Kanda!"

Ignoring the frantic, high-pitched cry he cut the power to all the lights, throwing the room into total darkness.

"Don't leave me!"

Linalee's scream followed him to the door, and as it closed behind him the sound was suddenly cut off.


	4. Dreams of the Past

**Warning:**  
This chapter contains a disturbing event where one character is overpowered by others. Although it gets resolved before any serious damage can occur, some readers may find this part to be unpleasant. (This is one of the reasons for the story's "teen" rating.)

* * *

 

_Darkness... floating through walls, floors, empty hallways... a dark room... a sleeping figure. Black hair, gray skin, eyes closed in sleep. Pulling closer, the crown of thorns visible beneath his bangs. Closer, so close she could nearly kiss his cheek if she wanted. But this was an illusion, for she had no form here... not now._

_His eyelashes were so close now that if his eyes were to open, those lashes would brush her lips. As if laying a kiss on one closed eyelid she dipped forward breathing in – and fell through. Feeling herself sinking into that sleeping body, that sleeping mind. Mingling with the mist and colours that drifted around and through her essence. The colours began taking shape, forming a room with people. Everything was dark. Barely any light filtered through the two heavy curtains covering a window on the opposite side of the room. She could make out three tall figures standing over a bed in a corner. A sound of metal chains could be heard as if something chained lay struggling. She could hear the sound of whimpering coming from the bed._

_She knew this place. She knew that bed. And without even needing to be told, she knew who lay terrified on that bed too scared too cry out._

" _Let her go!" She felt her mouth moving and the words unbidden come pouring out. The voice belonged to a boy. Fists clenched and body straining against those holding him back, she could feel his determination to get to that bed. Two strong men were trying to drag him out of the room, but surprisingly they were having problems getting a grip on him. His body kept flowing out of their hold as if he anticipated their every move and countered it. All the while she could feel the rage coursing throughout his entire body._

_A man moved away from the bed and as he got closer, she recognized him as Malcomn, a hated government official. With narrowed, nasty looking eyes, and a severely cropped mustache that went straight down from his nose and ended just above his lip, even now his appearance froze her in place. Or it would have, if the body she was presently occupying had been under her control. As it was, the boy pulled out of another unsuccessful grip from his guards and shouted at Malcomn, "She's only a girl, stop experimenting on her you sick bastard! I swear to god if you don't, I'll let everyone in the academy kno-"_

" _That what?" Malcomn interrupted him. "That Exorcist children are being experimented on in a secret room? And who would believe you? Who would take your word over mine, or better yet, that of a general's?" So saying, another man stepped out of the shadows to stand next to Malcomn._

" _General Mana?" The boy's voice cracked on the name. She could feel his disbelief and his sense of betrayal at the thought of the order's most celebrated and respected General being part of an undercover experimentation on helpless children._

" _Sir, we're losing her! She can't take much more." Another male voice interrupted, drawing everyone's attention back to the bed and the small figure that was now spasming in the chains. Her breathing was coming in shallow gasps, as if she could not draw in enough air._

_Malcomn made a disgusted sound. "Too weak. If only we had a strong subject, someone with a stubborn will..." His eyes lit up as his gaze met Kanda's angry glare._

" _What if we proposed a deal? As long as you agree to take Miss Lian's place, she will be exempt from her weekly treatment sessions. In return, you must give your word that none of this gets out, not even to your master."_

_Linalee felt her eyes narrow into that patent 'Kanda glare'._

" _Fine, but let her go now. Get those damned chains off her."_

_Malcomn looked down his nose at the child that dared give him orders. "She only goes the instant that you take her place. No sooner."_

_She felt Kanda grit his teeth. "What do you want me to do?"_

_The room was getting a bit blurry, the images and colours around her were shifting. When everything had solidified again, Linalee found herself lying on the floor with her hands and legs held down by a group of boys._

" _What do you want me to do?" One of the boys asked his fellows, echoing Kanda's words._

" _Just hold his sword arm out until Danik gets back with the vibrosword. We'll hold him down, so you just make sure Danik gets in a clean cut."_

" _Get the fuck off!" Linalee heard Kanda shouting as her mouth formed the words._

_She felt Kanda trying to throw the boys off, but with each of them holding down a limb and a fifth boy actually sitting on his stomach, all of his efforts went unnoticed. The heavy weight of the boy pressing Kanda into the ground, made it even a struggle to draw each breath._

" _Someone shut him up, we don't want anyone interfering." The first boy ordered and Linalee soon felt some kind of cloth being shoved into her mouth, nearly making her gag. Forget about shouting, she felt like she was suffocating!_

" _Are you sure this is all right. I mean, we're all Exorcists... we shouldn't be fighting each other, and... cutting his hand off, don't you think that's a bit much?"_

_Wait, hand? Linalee could feel Kanda's eyes widen in shock. Oh my God, someone help! Linalee's fear of being held down kicked in full force, and since Kanda's body was straining with all it's might it seemed he felt the same._

" _What are you, stupid? Landi, he threatened you two days ago, we don't need someone like him on our team. You get rid of his arm, you get rid of the problem. It's not like we don't have enough Exorcist's to fight off the Noah. And anyway, you want someone like him at your back?"_

" _But we could get expelled!"_

" _Not if you know the right people. Which I do. Now shut up and hold him still."_

_Linalee suddenly heard footsteps approaching and felt the most incredible surge of relief. Finally, someone had heard Kanda and had decided to help! The boys' bodies blocked her view of what was going on, not that she could have lifted her head to look forward even if she wanted to. She strained her ears to catch the words she so longed to hear..._

" _I brought the vibrosword."_

_The voice sounded a little bit older, maybe fourteen._

" _What took you so long? Hurry up and get it over with, I'm tired of holding onto him. My arms are going numb." The boy called Landi complained._

" _Not so fast. We've got him pinned, and I can think of a few other things I'd like to do to him before we take care of him. Move, Kovin." Linalee felt the boy on her chest shifting off her lower half. The next instant someone was pulling her pants down._

_Linalee started screaming, her mind going blank. She could hear Kanda making some kind of muffled noises, his vocal chords turning ragged._

" _Such a pretty boy, I was so sure that you were a girl." The older boy laughed and Linalee felt a large hand on her bare leg moving up. She wanted to die!_

" _What the hell do you think you're doing?" A completely different voice shouted out of nowhere. The repulsive touch moved away, thank God, and Kovin who had been pinning her stomach with his body-weight scrambled off her._

" _Allen." The boy holding her sword arm said the name as if in relief._

" _What does it look like, shrimp?" The oldest one replied, sounding like he thought he could intimidate the newcomer._

" _Let him go. Now." The new boy's voice vibrated with a rage that just sounded barely contained._

" _No, we need to teach him a lesson. He's always acting so superior, bossing us around." Kovin was saying from somewhere on her left. "You know what I'm talking about, you two are always fighting!"_

_"I said **now**!" The intensity of that one word snapped through the air. The boys gasped in shock and fear and immediately scrambled away from her, their footsteps growing quieter as they ran off. _

_Linalee slowly sat up, and pulled the rag out of her mouth, wincing in pain. Her left arm reached for the pants and pulled them back on while her right arm tried to hold her weight up. Both her arms were shaking from shock as well as from the strain they had been under the entire time that she had been struggling. She felt Kanda's face burning in embarrassment and shame at being seen so helpless._

" _I didn't need your help," Linalee heard Kanda hoarsely say as she glanced toward her rescuer to judge his reaction._

_Three feet away stood a white haired boy, somewhere around 12 years of age. His left arm was enormous, with black talon-like claws. It glowed a white colour and Linalee realized that he must have activated his innocence, whether on purpose or due to being very emotionally upset, she wasn't sure. His sad blue eyes stared down at Kanda with regret, almost as if he blamed himself for not coming earlier. When he replied, it was to say a single lie._

" _I know."_

_Then the boy called Allen turned around and walked away._

_The dream began to blur and fade, when suddenly she sensed an alien presence enter her mind. Everything froze and then she felt her essence being forcefully shoved out of Kanda's body. Back in the dark room she floated above a sleeping Kanda, whose eyes snapped open that very instant and glared straight at her._

_"Damn it Linalee, stay the hell out of my dreams!"_

Linalee jerked awake, staring straight ahead into pitch-black darkness. Her ragged breathing echoed off the walls in the empty room as she tried to deal with the emotional consequences of what she had just seen. For the time being, her shackled wrists and legs seemed to be forgotten as she re-experienced those horrid memories, both hers, and Kanda's.


	5. Bounty Hunter

"Don't move hunter," Golmic ordered as he pressed the blaster's nozzle to the red-head's temple.

The young man calmly leaned back in his chair and looked up at the alien standing over him. Apparently oblivious to the danger that he was presently in, the red-head grinned up at his attacker. "There you are Golmic, I was expecting you to arrive in the cantina sooner. Didn't you dock an hour and seventeen minutes ago in the southern hanger?"

"Damn you, how did you gain access to highly classified landings?" Golmic demanded, trying not to show his nervousness.

"You sure you wanna know?" That one green eye stared up at Golmic intently. The alien swallowed visibly and avoided looking at the ominous black eye-patch that dominated a third of the young man's porcelain-pale face. Who knew what was hidden beneath that piece of leather. There were tales whispered about Akuma and Noah who took on human appearances, although how one could tell them apart from true humans was anybody's guess.

The instant he heard that the infamous bounty hunter known only as one-eyed death had taken the contract on his life, Golmic had pulled all his sources into locating him first. Despite his apparent young age this particular bounty hunter had gotten more kills to his name in the past two years than the majority of bounty hunters did in their lifetime.

"Why are you after me?" Golmic wasn't expecting his question to come out sounding so pitiful.

"Are you unaware of the large bounty placed on your head?" The red-head raised an eyebrow exuding a nonchalance at odds with the gravity of the situation.

"If it's about money, then I can just pay you the bounty to leave me alone."

"And what's to stop me from finishing you off once you pay me?" Genuine curiosity could be heard in the hunter's voice.

Tension filled the air as Golmic saw the last of his hope fading away.

The young hunter continued. "We are killers. There is no honor among hunters. And even if I were to take you up on your offer, there would still be the matter of your illegal slave ring. Or are you gonna tell me that you no longer sell kidnapped children to the highest bidder?"

"Children? Since when has one-eyed death ever given a damn about others?" Golmic demanded incredulously.

"I never said I was consistent," The cold voice was completely at odds with the smile that the red-head shot him.

There was no way out of this. Golmic had always trusted his instincts, and right now they were telling him that the hunter was set on killing him. Without a second thought he fired the blaster, but the hunter was no longer there. The last thing Golmic felt was a shearing pain as he was engulfed in flames.

* * *

"Excuse me, do you know where I can find a good pilot?"

Allen asked the heavyset, middle-aged bartender, a strained smile on his face. Damn that Cross. What kind of person dumped a heavy box of droid parts onto the lap of their unsuspecting passenger, and then ordered said victim to 'shut up and stop whining' for the entire duration of the two hour ride? Allen wondered if his legs would ever be the same again.

"I don't know about any _good_ pilots," the bartender began, looking at the white-haired teen wearily, "but at this time there is only one who recently arrived by ship. Business has been pretty slow since the Dark Order has imposed that quarantine on all the nearby planets and star systems. Those who try to leave are boarded, interrogated, and if they're lucky, fined and later released."

"What if they're not lucky?"

"Then they are tortured and later killed," The bartender replied, his tone implying that this should be obvious.

"Oh," not knowing what else to say Allen fell silent and scanned the room.

"Still, if you're set on going, your best bet is that young man talking to the Trechlite. I heard he plans to depart today."

Allen looked over to where the bartender pointed, just in time to see the red-head, who had been leaning back in a chair one second, blur and suddenly appear behind the alien the next. The flames that engulfed the Trechlite were almost simultaneous with the red-head's movements. All that remained of the alien now was a charred corpse at the young man's feet. A blaster lay about a foot from the Trechlite's remains.

Allen blinked in surprise. What had just happened? Or better yet, where had that strange weapon come from. Apparently of a similar mind the red-haired man glanced down at the strange four-foot hammer that he now held. His expression darkened, and with poorly veiled disgust he dropped it onto the nearest table. Shrinking rapidly as it fell, the hammer was only about a foot in length by the time it hit the table.

Allen had never seen anything like it, and judging from the silence that permeated the room, neither had any of the others. All eyes were on the red-haired man as he stepped over the corpse, and not even bothering to look at them as he passed, the man flicked a coin at the bartender and casually walked out the door.

Allen looked down at the counter-top. It would be suicidal to go after a man like that. Chances were that he'd be dead the instant he opened his mouth. Then again Cross wanted to get off of this planet, and the only way out was through that man. Allen set his shoulders and started towards the door. It wasn't as if this was the first time he was endangering life and limb for one of Cross' demands.

* * *

He was being followed...

Lavi tensed as he turned the corner of yet another building and abruptly stopped, pressing his back to the cold stone wall behind him as he waited in silence. There, footsteps. The edge of a brown cloak peeked around the corner, followed shortly by a flash of white hair. In an instant Lavi was on him. The shorter teen was slammed into the opposite wall of the Alley, his clear blue eyes staring up in shock into the green one of his captor.

Lavi's left hand held the boy's right wrist pinned to the wall, while Lavi's right forearm pressed into the white haired teen's throat. He felt the boy swallow.

"Why are you following me?" Lavi asked, a casual smile on his lips.

Something about that smile made Allen uneasy. Perhaps it was due to having a master whose smiles often heralded an unexpected beating.

"I need to talk to you," Allen began, trying to ignore the arm that applied a steady pressure to his windpipe. "Me and my master require passage on a ship heading off this planet."

"Well good luck finding one, because not many people are willing to face a Dark Order interrogation," Lavi replied with a small smile.

"Well, _you_ could take us," Allen pointed out, and immediately felt Lavi's grip on his right wrist tighten at the same time that Lavi's smile widened. His amusement was catching. Despite his circumstances Allen felt an answering smile start to spread across his face, that is, until he glanced up and saw a cold green eye observing him. That eye could have belonged to a completely different person – the emotions didn't match up.

"No way in hell." Lavi replied evenly.

"We will pay," Allen promised. After all, Cross _must_ have some money stashed away for just such an occasion. No one would be willing to take them on for free.

"Of course you will, but mine is not a passenger vessel. I take cargo, not people."

"Since you also need to get off this planet, you might as well make a profit," Allen pointed out.

The next instant Lavi's smile was gone. He brought his head down so it was level with Allen's, his one green eye staring coldly into two wide blue ones. "I don't need you telling me how to conduct my business."

The kid seriously didn't know when to quit, Lavi thought, as the strange boy opened his mouth yet again, "What have you got to lose? It's not as if we expect you to take us far. As long as it's off planet we can find another pilot at the next spaceport."

"I guess you're out of luck then," Lavi replied, pushing off the white-haired teen. "Don't let me catch you following me again, or your master might find himself only needing to pay a fare for one."

Just then a mocking voice broke in, stopping Lavi in his tracks. "Hey brat, what's taking so long?"

Lavi looked up to see a tall man in an impressive looking cloak, wearing a white mask that covered the right side of his face. Only his left eye was visible under the large hat that cast a dark shadow on his face. Underneath one arm he held a box with some kind of golden parts sticking out from beneath a carelessly placed piece of worn cloth. A small golden ball hovered over the man's shoulder.

Lavi did a double take; long red hair, a half-face mask, large hat, cloak and... a gun holster. He couldn't believe his luck.

"Master Cross, he says he won't take us, and he's threatened to kill me if I continue trying to persuade him." The while-haired teen informed his master nervously, glancing up to gauge the man's reaction.

The man known as Cross chuckled softly. "I think I like him already."

Hearing his suspicions confirmed, Lavi couldn't help but stiffen at hearing that name. _Three years... To finally come face to face with –_

"Do I know you boy?" Cross demanded suddenly, something about the boy's behaviour spoke of recognition.

"No, we've never met," Lavi replied casually, his face back to that blank look of indifference as he added in an offhand manner, "And I've changed my mind, we'll be leaving in 2 hours. Don't be late."

With that said, he walked past the two of them and made his way in the direction of the southern hanger.


	6. You Call This Training?

_Chapter 6:_

**"You Call This Training?"**

 

"This is your ship?" Allen asked incredulously, staring up at the hunk of junk that stood before them. Its exterior was a dull metallic colour, the kind used right before a ship was graced with a paint job. It seemed oddly tilted as it stood there; if it were a person Allen would say that it was favouring its right side. And blast him if the sides of the hull weren't sporting various dents.

"Are you sure it's safe to fly? I mean -" Lavi's glare had Allen choke back the rest of his sentence. Unfortunately he couldn't keep himself from adding curiously, "how is it that they let you pass inspection?"

Lavi turned a murderous glare on him. He didn't take kindly to people insulting his beloved ship. "If you prefer to stay behind, then keep yapping away."

"No, no, it's fine, really." Allen hastily assured him. "I think it's... um, solid."

Lavi gave Allen a hard stare and turned back to a panel he had just uncovered. Just as he started tapping a series of buttons in a rapid sequence, the doors suddenly slid open to reveal a fierce looking red-head armed to the teeth. With a scowl on her pale face, the woman leveled a blaster at Allen's chest from not even two feet away, making it clear that she would gladly blow a hole in him at the slightest provocation.

Allen froze in place, his eyes widening in shock to the sudden threat.

"Don't you have any idea what they _are_?" The woman spat out, presumably to her captain, and the whir of a blaster being charged was clearly heard in the small hanger. "There is no way in hell that they are getting on this ship!"

Allen's mind was frantically scampering around in terror as his body stood rooted in place. _She's crazy, a lunatic armed to the teeth who -_

A sharp jerk from his arm made Allen's eyes widen in horror. It was happening again! Just like that time with Larry, his left arm was spasming and jerking uncontrollably now, the bandage he had wrapped it in was straining and starting to unravel. Trying to grab his possessed arm with his right hand Allen suddenly cried out in fear as the world bled away into a red monochrome.

"Control it!" Cross barked out, grabbing Allen by the front of his coat and shaking him, while Cross' own gun hand remained clenched in a fist at his side.

"Get him away from me!" Allen heard the woman yelling. As he glanced at her through the red haze of his vision he caught her look of terror at the sight of his spasming red arm which he was attempting to press tight to his chest.

Lavi reached over and disarmed the blaster that the woman held then ignoring her panicked threats he pushed her firmly back into the ship.

"Chome, get to the cockpit, we'll argue later." With that he pressed a button that shut the panel behind him, and turned toward the still struggling youth.

"Listen kid, I won't have you threatening my crew. Either you get yourself under control and keep your instincts in-check, or repeat this performance when we are aboard my vessel, surrounded by nothing but space, and I swear that I'll launch you from the nearest escape pod hatch on my ship. The choice is yours." With that Lavi turned away, pressed a button on the side panel, walked through the newly open doorway and disappeared from view as he rounded a corner. The main hallway continued to stretch out before them.

To Allen's immense relief, the instant that the woman was out of sight, his arm was back under his control. Noticing this, Cross let go of Allen's coat front and caught his eyes in an intense stare.

"Don't let that arm take control of you like that again." Cross warned.

"It's not like I was able to stop it," Allen argued. "I tried really hard, but it behaved like it belonged to someone else."

"Hmm..." Cross looked at Allen thoughtfully and then seemed to come to some sort of decision. "You will require more practice in self-control. We will commence your lessons today at 1500 hours."

With that Cross turned away from the white-haired boy and entered the ship. After a brief pause, the boy let out a deep sigh, righted the bandage that had started unraveling from around his demonic-looking arm, and followed his master into the ship.

 

* * *

"Again." Cross' voice rang out through the spacious room that made up the central hold of the ship. A worried kind of beeping sounded from the little golden ball that hovered a bit hesitantly above the white-haired teenager.

"Don't worry, he can handle it. You're only zapping him at minimal intensity." Cross replied, not even looking up from the golden metallic head that he was currently tinkering with.

"Ow, Cross!" Allen cried out as he failed to block another painful zap to his backside.

"Shut up Brat and keep training."

"This isn't training, it's some form of strangely perverse punishment. Why not just beat me like you always do?." Allen demanded while eyeing TMCam-P wearily.

"Use that godforsaken arm like you're supposed to, and we'll move on to more productive fighting forms."

"I can't, I could hurt someone. Besides, I don't even know how to get it to work." Allen replied as he hastily rolled out of the way of a zap that missed him by bare inches.

"I must say, this is the most unorthodox method I have ever seen used for Exorcist training." The pilot called Lavi drawled out as he looked up from the star charts he had been studying.

Cross gave him a measured look.

Lavi let out a sharp laugh. "Oh come on, only a fool would not have recognized the trademark behaviour of untrained innocence activation."

"You seem to be very knowledgeable on the topic of Exorcists and innocence..." Cross replied, watching Lavi intently, the droid head in his lap temporarily forgotten.

Lavi grinned fiercely, his eyes however remained hard as they stared into Cross'. "Two years ago it was all that anyone ever talked about. One couldn't go a day without seeing some major battle between a Noah and an Exorcist. These days however it is the commonly held belief that all Exorcists have been either killed or turned. A belief that appears to be not _entirely_ accurate..." Lavi finished off and looked pointedly off to the side at the boy who had stopped avoiding TMCam-P's half-hearted attacks and had started to make his way toward the two red-heads.

Cross stood up without responding, threw his large hat onto Lavi's table, and approached the younger teen whose face filled with increasing trepidation at his Master's every step. "Get ready to defend yourself brat, it's clear to me that the droid was not putting up enough of a fight for you."

Lavi watched the kid block another blow from the man who can called himself Cross. From what he could see the white-haired teen had ok form and adequate speed, but nothing remotely exceptional. In fact, any normal human would have been able to demonstrate similar abilities. He knew the kid was an Exorcist, however if not for this morning's demonstration of his unstable abilities, Lavi would be hard pressed to claim the boy was anything but a regular human. Even now Cross easily managed to land some powerful blows, and it was clear that the man was not even trying.

Lavi kept his emotions in check as he observed the sparring pair silently. The kid would prove to be only a minor problem in any case. Lavi wondered at the boy's loyalty to his master. How far would he be willing to go to -

All of a sudden something slammed into the ship, tilting it, and in the process knocking the white-haired boy off his feet and nearly dumping Lavi out of the chair he was lounging in.

"Chome, what the hell was that?" Lavi demanded into the main speaker in the wall behind him.

"They're shooting at us! The damn Dark Order had a sentry scanning this side of the planet and now it's trying to disable our thrusters." Chome yelled back, anger lacing her every word. "And what did you expect? Did you think inviting a couple of Exorcists onto our ship and trying to smuggle them off a planet under Noah quarantine would make the Dark Order hand you a medal?" she added sarcastically as the ship jerked sharply to the side again.

Another blast rocked the ship, but this time everyone managed to keep their balance. Allen looked over at Lavi where he sat attempting to prop his legs on the metallic table once more.

"What does she mean by 'a couple of Exorcists'? Does she mean us? And who is Noah? Why would he want to quarantine a planet?" The boy looked completely confused and Lavi spent a good 10 seconds getting his gaping mouth shut.

"Are you trying to tell me that you don't know who the Noah are? What do you take me for?" Lavi asked incredulously, shaking his head in disbelief.

"And I suppose that you also think that everyone is innocence-compatible as well?" Getting a blank stare in response the red-head practically exploded.

"Your _arm_ you idiot!" He pointed to Allen's red appendage, where the bandage was already half hanging off.

"You are an innocence user, which makes you an Exorcist. You know, the ones _sworn_ to defeat the Dark Order of the Noah?" By this point Lavi looked exasperated. He turned to Cross and pointed a finger back at Allen. "What the hell have you been teaching him?" He demanded and nearly did a face-plant on the table as the ship took a sudden dive. "Chome! What are you _doing_ up there?"

"Trying to keep us alive, _Captain_. Maybe you should get up here and _help_ me!"

"Do you see any drifting debris, asteroids, somewhere we could hide behind to confuse their sensors?" He asked while getting up from his chair.

"I don't - wait. I think I found something. Hold on."

Lavi had a split second to grab onto the metal table whose legs were welded to the ship itself, which was the only reason why he didn't go sailing across the room just like his two passengers when the ship jerked up, did a rapid twirling maneuver, suddenly shot straight forward, and then just as suddenly came to a complete stop.

Out of the corner of his eye Lavi saw the boy flying past him, smacking into the side wall and sliding to the floor. A split second later his master joined him. Lavi heard a pained groan and saw what looked like the boy's leg jerking from beneath the much larger body of his master.

Cross got up and dusted himself off, apparently not much worse for wear. He glanced over at the body that still lay before him. "Well done brat, you managed to break my fall."

After a few laboured gasps for breath came the weak reply, "unplanned."

Lavi spared the boy on the floor a parting glance before releasing his grip on the table and making his way to the cockpit. He wanted to see what that latest maneuver was all about, and how it had managed to shake off their pursuers. As for the boy, he just needed to sleep it off. The floor was as good a place as any.

* * *

**Rampant Id**

Let me know what you guys think of the story so far. For a writer, your opinions and comments are a lot like fuel for a dying flame.


	7. Stranger in the Mirror

_Chapter 7:_

**"Stranger in the Mirror"**

 Allen lay on the cot in one of the small empty rooms that had been given to him for his temporary stay. He thought back to the short history lesson he had received from that Pilot named Lavi, shortly after his mishap with the wall and a flying Cross. Now _that_ was a memory Allen could do without; how did the man manage to weigh like a ton of bricks? As for what the red-head had said, it made Allen wonder how it was possible for him to not know something that seemed to be such common knowledge to everyone else.

_"Listen kid, for the past 8 years the Exorcist Order had been battling the Dark Order of the Noah for control of the planets and star systems. The Exorcists claimed it was in order to ensure everyone's freedom. To this end they threw aside all their morals and focused on the idea that everything was fair game as long as it was a means to an end._

_The Noah on the other hand sent out Akuma, their droid-like demonic servants, to kill off anyone standing in their way of taking complete and absolute control. Two years ago the final battle raged and all Exorcists were believed to be defeated. Those who were not killed were tortured until they turned into the Fallen. That is a fancy word used for Exorcists that became Noah._

_You want to know why you two are still alive? I have no idea. As for the reason why all nearby planets were placed under quarantine? I'm sure that your master would know more on that than I do."_

Allan sighed and thumped his head back in frustration on the brown cloak he was using as makeshift pillow. Just how much did Cross know? Why was he keeping all this knowledge to himself? Why was Allen only able to remember the last two years of his life? The oldest memory that he could dredge up was waking up and seeing his Master kneeling over him covered in blood and dirt. It was the only time Allen had ever seen his Master looking so unkempt and emotional. Never before had he seen his master with an expression of such regret, worry and... fear.

Fear of what? That was the part that bothered Allen the most. He wanted to say that his Master had clearly been worried and afraid _for_ him. However, for some inexplicable reason he felt deep down that was not the case.

Allen lifted up his cursed arm, looking at the ugly raised red flesh that covered it. The long black nails almost resembled claws more than human fingernails. What exactly was an exorcist?

...Why did he feel like he was more _monster_ than man?

He closed his eyes as both of his hands fisted in the thin sheet that he lay on. Rather than having his curiosity assuaged and his questions answered, he now found himself with more questions than what he had started out with. Why did he feel that the answers to these particular questions would bring him no relief?

Three hours later found him making his way to the cockpit. Allen happened to know that Chome was not on duty right now, which was good since he had no desire to face her again. Now there was a woman who reacted to him the way he secretly felt everyone should. Deep down he always felt that something was wrong with him, that he was not quite what he appeared to be. This "Exorcist" thing that Lavi talked about seemed to be something his Master was a part of as well.

That was part of the reason why Allen was going to see Lavi now - to discuss a particular matter that had been bothering him since Lavi had suddenly agreed to take the two of them on as passengers. He had been so adamant about not being for hire, however, the instant that he saw Master Cross he changed his mind. Why?

Something made Allen slow down as he approached the entrance to the cockpit. Before he even had a chance to make any kind of sound he was struck speechless by what he saw before him. There sat Lavi with his back toward him, facing a screen that displayed a picture of a man who was very familiar to Allen. He could see long red hair, cynical eyes, a sarcastic smile and a large wide hat that cast part of his face in shadow – the face of his Master. Below the picture of Master Cross there were some words written in clear bold text that had Allen's eyes widening in surprise as he silently read them.

**General Marian Cross** \- Traitor.

**Reward:** 50,000,000. Dead or Alive (proof to be delivered = Innocence: revolver)

**Status:** Missing in Action. Presumed Dead.

**Issued By:** High General Malcom of the Exorcist Order.

The angle from which he could see Lavi, revealed a triumphant yet savage expression on his face as he stared unblinkingly at the screen. Allen pressed himself back against the wall praying that Lavi would not notice him. Slowly he inched himself back one careful, silent step at a time. When he made it around the corner he slowly sped up and headed straight for his Master's room. He had to warn Cross! They could not stay here any longer, not with a hired killer on board with his sights set on his Master.

Allen found himself before Cross' door sooner than he had expected. Raising his hand to knock softly on the door Allen paused with his hand in the air. There was a voice coming from the room, a female voice. How in the world did his Master manage to sneak a woman into his room? The voice did not resemble that of the co-pilot Chome. It made no sen—

The door suddenly slid open, then a hand grabbed Allen by the scruff of his neck and yanked him inside.

* * *

 Allen's wide eyes landed on the gloved hand that was gripping his shirtfront. As his eyes travelled slowly up he saw his Master's red-sleeved arm and followed it up to his glowering face. To distract himself from the unnerving expression Allen looked around and saw a fairly barren room with an empty cot for sleeping in the corner. Against the furthest wall stood the box with the golden droid parts with half of the golden droid already reassembled - the head, torso and one arm - leaning against the wall next to it. Puzzled as to where the woman's voice might have been coming from, Allen turned to look to his other side and saw the little golden ball called TMCam-P hovering not far off and shining some kind of holographic projection onto the metal floor.

"Had fun spying, brat?" Cross asked, his voice heavily laced with irritation.

"Um... I wanted to talk to you..." Allen replied, looking a bit uncomfortable while still held firmly in his Master's grip.

Cross stared down at the white-haired teen for a few more seconds before suddenly releasing him and gesturing to the only chair in the room.

"Since you're already here why don't you take a seat. I want to show you something."

Walking cautiously over to the chair, Allen inconspicuously scanned the seat for some sorts of traps. Finding none, he slowly sat down. His master leaned over and placed his hands on the armrests from behind. Since he was a pretty tall man to begin with, this made Allen feel like his master was towering over hm. Perhaps this was a new method of intimidation? If so, it sure was working.

"TM, play the message again."

The droid beeped back a few sounds in affirmation and then suddenly a ten-inch tall hologram of a girl appeared right in front of Allen at eye level. The holographic projection lacked colour, but Allen could see that the girl wore dark clothes and had long black hair held back in ponytails. Her face was set in an expression of extreme concentration and when she spoke, her voice conveyed urgency.

"General Cross, here is the data that you have asked us to track down. You will need to plug it into central to pinpoint the exact location, as it is scrambled in code. I know you are alive and I pray that you receive this in time. "

Allen could hear some kind of alarm blaring in the background of wherever the girl was. He almost missed her next words. "The 12th Noah has just arrived, so I do not have much time. Do not give up your life recklessly - I have grieved enough to last me a lifetime."

Just as the girl reached forward to cut off the recording she paused and added, "I do not blame you for her death, and neither should you."

Suddenly the hologram faded and the girl along with it. Allen tilted his head back and looked at his Master in confusion.

Cross, refusing to meet his questioning gaze moved away from the chair and took a few steps back to lean against the cold, hard wall. He tilted his hat so that it cast his face in shadow and spoke.

"That was one of the few remaining Exorcists that still oppose the Dark Order of the Noah."

Allen waited a few seconds and then frowned when his master did not continue.

"Why did she call you a General, and what is it that you asked her to get?"

Cross let out a deep sigh and said, "I used to be called a General when I belonged to the Exorcist Order many years ago. The reason I wanted you to see this was for you to understand the importance of this small droid. If something should happen to me, it is important that you manage to deliver him to his final destination." Seeing Allen opening his mouth, Cross cut him off.

"Any further information is of no use to you, besides the fact that we will be making immediate travel arrangements to the Dagobah system once we reach the nearest spaceport.

"About that," Allen began, looking around a bit hesitantly. "There is a good chance that we won't be making it there alive. I just saw the Pilot looking at an old bounty of yours.. and I think he means to collect." Allen looked up at Cross quickly enough to catch a fleeting expression of mild surprise followed closely by a look of resignation.

"Do not worry about that now, I will deal with it when the time comes," Cross said as he pushed away from the wall he had been leaning on. He looked at Allen's worried and tired face.

"Go back to bed brat. Although I love our little nightly chats, I would prefer for you not to look like a brain-dead zombie tomorrow."

Allen looked up in surprise, "What about La-

"Don't worry about him. This is not the first Bounty Hunter trying to cash in on my neck. We'll wait for him to make his move and _then_ we'll deal with it. Now go to sleep."

* * *

 Allen had been so out of it that only once he got back to his room did he realize that he had been walking around all night with his ugly deformed left arm completely uncovered. He cringed a little as he looked at his full reflection in the large mirror that hung on one of his walls, thinking about the embarrassment of having others see it in all it's horrid glory.

A sudden thought hit Allen, the surprising realization that he had no memories of having seen his own reflection - ever. Somehow he understood that such a fact was strange in itself. He leaned so far forward that his face almost touched the mirror. Without thinking, he reached toward the red line that cut across his face from above his eyebrow all the way down to his cheek. He had not even noticed that it had been his left finger - belonging to that ugly red appendage - that he had touched his red, scarred face with until it was too late. The instant that his finger made contact with the skin, something disturbing happened to the mirror.

Allen felt his eyes widening as the reflection in the mirror suddenly smirked back at him. The face looking back was no longer his. Sure it had white hair and the red scar, but that was where the resemblance ended. The figure in the mirror could have passed for his twin, if it had not been for the piercing yellow eyes, dark-gray skin, and a row of ugly black marks all across it's forehead. Allen tried to make himself say something, but his shock was so great that no words were coming out. Almost as if it was taking pleasure at his horror the figure's smile grew until it looked predatory. Then it raised its red hand and waved.

Allen screamed and shut his eyes as he smashed his fist into the mirror, sending thousands of tiny shards scattering onto the floor around him.


End file.
